Jason Richwine, Heritage immigration expert quits

The Heritage Foundation announced the resignation Friday of senior policy analyst Jason Richwine, co-author of a controversial report critical of the Senate’s immigration reform bill. After Heritage issued the report this week, news articles pointed out that Richwine had argued in his Harvard dissertation that there was a long-standing difference between the IQ of white Americans and immigrants.

Heritage had said earlier that those views were not those of the foundation.

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PODCAST: Immigration backlash

Friday afternoon’s announcement was part of an urgent damage control effort by the giant conservative think tank, which has come under unaccustomed criticism for the immigration report.

Heritage said in a statement: “Jason Richwine let us know he’s decided to resign from his position. He’s no longer employed by Heritage. It is our long-standing policy not to discuss internal personnel matters.”

POLITICO reported Thursday that the conservative think tank was already considering bringing in a high-profile public relations firm to manage fallout from the report. Doing so would be significant because the group generally relies on its own internal communications team. It would also indicate that the Heritage Foundation is seriously concerned about the potential damage to its reputation.

A Republican operative who works on immigration reform suggested that the move might help the group stop a loss of support from donors.

Despite criticisms from conservative groups and lawmakers, including Sen. Marco Rubio, the think tank is standing by its price estimate for immigration overhaul.